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Court Concerned Over Growing Misuse of SC/ST Act
New Delhi | Apr 02, 2010
A Delhi court has expressed concern over rising incidents of misuse of
the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act "to settle personal scores".
The court's observations came while discharging nine members of a
family, including five women, from charges under the Act for allegedly
using abusive words against their tenants who belonged to the
Scheduled Caste category.
"Unfortunately, one comes across growing instances of cases where the
provisions of this Act have not so much been invoked for the
betterment of those to whom it seeks to protect, than by those who
want to settle personal scores by giving to an otherwise ordinary
dispute, the colour of an alleged atrocity under the Act," Additional
Sessions Judge Kamini Lau said.
The court observed that the provisions of the Scheduled
Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, meant to
protect the lot of the exploited sections, should not be allowed to be
misused.
"Law cannot be the absolute property of a few and this court can only
hope and appeal that the provisions of this Special Legislation are
not abused by a few so as to ensure that its benefit is able to
actually reach the exploited sections," ASJ Lau said.
"This court also will not be a privy to any exploitative situation of
misuse and abuse of this Act whose abuse has otherwise raised serious
concerns all over the country," it said.
Recently, the Uttar Pradesh government has been compelled to take up
the issue in the state assembly for relaxing the stringent provisions
of SC/ST Act to check its abuse without compromising with the security
of the marginalised sections of the society, it pointed out.
In this case, the court noted that complainant, Kanaklata, 30, a
Master of Philosophy from Delhi University, had changed her statement
before the police on May 4, 2008 and invoked the provisions of the
SC/ST Act against the family members of her landlord after talking to
her lawyer.
"I find that the present case is a glaring example of abuse of a
Special Legislation with stringent provisions which has been enacted
to ameliorate the lot of the hitherto, under-privileged, deprived and
marginalised section of the society," ASJ Lau said.
The court said that complainant Kanaklata had spared none as she had
in her improved version of the complaint, roped in the entire family
of Om Prakash Grover, a senior citizen, including all women members.
She did not stop at this and further implicated the brother of the
landlord Ved Prakash, his wife and his daughter -in-law who are not
even residing in the same house and are resident of another property
at Mukherjee Nagar here, it added.
Filed At: Apr 02, 2010 17:20 IST , Edited At: Apr 02, 2010 17:20 IST
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